Advocacy: Life Without Trains
“Life Without Trains” is a 30-minute FFA lesson plan that uses CSX’s interactive LocalMotive webpage and an accompanying worksheet to teach students about informative and persuasive communication in agricultural advocacy. Students explore the webpage to gather facts about rail transportation and infrastructure, then reflect on how visual and factual elements are used to communicate effectively.
At a glance
- Learning objectives
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- Define the importance of informative and persuasive tactics in advocacy.
- Develop abilities to simplify and share information.
- Have a better understanding of rail infrastructure.
- Time required
- 30 minutes
- Materials
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- A copy of the "Life Without Trains" worksheet for each student.
- Internet access to explore the interactive website.
- This Quick Lesson Plan Would Work Well As
- 1. Supplemental activity to an agribusiness curriculum; 2. For an introductory agriculture course; 3. Supplemental activity to an ag mechanics curriculum
- Resources
- FFA.org; Local Motive – http://www.mnn.com/csxlocalmotive/trains/#
Downloads & Links
Aligned Standards
AFNR Career Ready Practices
- CRP.04Communicate clearly, effectively, and with reason. Career-ready individuals communicate thoughts, ideas and action plans with clarity, whether using written, verbal and/or visual methods.
- CRP.08Utilize critical thinking to make sense of problems and persevere in solving them. Career-ready individuals readily recognize problems in the workplace, understand the nature of the problem, and devise effective plans to solve the problem.
AFNR Cluster Skills
- CS.02Evaluate the nature and scope of the Agriculture, Food & Natural Resources Career Cluster and the role of agriculture, food and natural resources (AFNR) in society and the economy.
- CS.06Analyze the interaction among AFNR systems in the production, processing and management of food, fiber and fuel and the sustainable use of natural resources.
AFNR Performance Element
- CS.01Analyze how issues, trends, technologies and public policies impact systems in the agriculture, food & natural resources career cluster.
Common Career Technical Core
- AG1Analyze how issues, trends, technologies and public policies impact systems in the Agriculture, Food & Natural Resources Career Cluster.
Common Core – Math Practices
Common Core – Reading: Informational Text
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.1Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.2Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.8Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is valid and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; identify false statements and fallacious reasoning.
Common Core – Science & Technical Subjects
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.9-10.7Translate quantitative or technical information expressed in words in a text into visual form (e.g., a table or chart) and translate information expressed visually or mathematically (e.g., in an equation) into words.
Common Core – Writing
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.2Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
FFA Precept
- FFA.PG-JMental Growth: Embrace cognitive and intellectual development relative to reasoning, thinking and coping.